Challenge Accepted

Like Barney from the TV show "How I Met Your Mother", I too said, "Challenge Accepted" on this cold Friday.

Today was my first day back to work from Christmas break. The teachers had a couple hours of PD (professional development) to start our day. The focus of the day was Shawn Achor's "The Happiness Advantage" research. In his research, he found that people need to train themselves and work to be happy.

We are all taught that with success comes happiness. Mr. Achor has found, though, that it's actually the other way around. The happier we are, the more successful we are. So with that, Achor challenges us to choose one of five researched habits and do them for 21 days in a row. He calls it "The 21 Day Challenge."

Challenge # 1 Accepted. 

Here are the five options in case you want to try the challenge for yourself: (Yes, I totally think you should!)

1. Write down three new things you are grateful for each day into a blank word document or into the free app I Journal. Research shows this will significantly improve your optimism even 6 months later, and raises your success rates significantly.

2. Write for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours. This is a strategy to help transform you from a task-based thinker, to a meaning based thinker who scans the world for meaning instead of endless to-dos. This dramatically increases work happiness.

3. Exercise for 10 minutes a day. This trains your brain to believe your behavior matters, which causes a cascade of success throughout the rest of the day.

4. Meditate for 2 minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out. This will help you undo the negative effects of multitasking. Research shows you get multiple tasks done faster if you do them one at a time. It also decreasesstress and raises happiness.

5. Write one, quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising a member on your team. This significantly increases your feeling of social support, which in my study at Harvard was the largest predictor of happiness for the students.

For Challenge #1, I decided to complete habit #2. I will share my 2 minute writing which describes the day's positive experience in my blog for the next 21 days beginning tomorrow. Sometimes just logging on and blogging can be a challenge itself. Because of this, I will be sure to at least jot something down on my calendar so that it's done daily, then post to the blog ASAP. 

I recommend that you watch the TED Talk with Achor. Don't worry, it's not boring!

Challenge Accepted... #2

The second challenge I have accepted is KLove radio station's 30 Day Challenge. It's easy: listen to nothing but Christian music for 30 days and see how it impacts your life. 

I haven't set New Year's resolutions that are sure to be broken, but I am taking charge of my own happiness. And that is a cool feeling.

Aria agrees. 

TGIF, everyone!